The organizing committee of the 6th AHLA conference is pleased to invite you to participate in the 6th International Health Literacy Conference: A Health Literate Asia and Beyond, to be held in Taichung, Taiwan, October 25th-27th, 2018

The theme of the 9th ICPH-GMS (2017), Yangon is “Adopting Healthy Lifestyle: Combating Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs)”. NCDs are the leading causes of death in the GMS countries at present and they create enormous health burden with serious socioeconomic implications.

In order to widen the scientific research themes and strengthen international and national relationships of young researchers and students with other Faculty of Public Health among Southeast Asian countries, Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy will host The Second Scientific Conference of Young Researchers in April 2018.

The Research Project "Epidemiology of Snakebites in Can Tho City" in 2018

Snakebites and poisonous snakebites are still a neglected health problem in the community, snake venom can be dangerous to the life of the victim and can leave bad sequelae unless having rightful first aids and treatment. Can Tho city, the capital of the Southwest of Vietnam, is recognized as a land of rivers and water areas with the appropriate environment for the development of the snakes. For that reason, the Institute for Community Health Research (ICHR) in cooperation with the Bernhard Nocht Institute of Tropical Medicine - Hamburg, Germany, and the Health Department of Can Tho City has implemented the survey named "Epidemiology and Management of Snakebite" in 2018.

In Jan 2018, the research team led by A/Prof. Vo Van Thang - Director of the ICHR and Dr. Joerg Blessmann - Bernhard Noct Institute for Tropical Medicine had come and worked with the Can Tho Health Department in Can Tho City. Thereby, the ICHR decided to carry out a community-based research and training sessions on prevention and treatment of poisonous snake bites for health staff with the support of a local research team with Dr. Cao Minh Chu - Deputy Director of Can Tho Health Department - acting as the coordinator.

Picture: Study site survey and piloting in Can Tho

In Mar 2018, the study was officially conducted in Can Tho city with a sample size of more than 15,000 people. The main aim of the study was to examine the number of people bitten by snake in 2017 through households interviewing, which wererandomly selected, to find the prevalence of snake bites in the community. The study also collectedsecondary data on the treatment of snakebites at the infirmary in the city from 2015-2017 including the General Hospital of Can Tho City, Can Tho Pediatric Hospital, 121 Military Hospital and some district hospitals that had had hospitalized patients for snakebite treatment. The data collected were information about the status of patients, the clinical as well as para-clinical symptoms of the patients, treatment... noted directly from their medical records. Parallel to the process of data collection, the research team also coordinated training sessions on knowledge for medical staff specialized in snakebite treatment in many city's hospitals about poisonous snake species in Mekong River Delta, guidelines of first aids and management when bitten by venomous snake, especially the treatment with antivenom and its side effects.

Picture: Survey on snakebite data in the area integrated with snakebite education

Picture: Training on data collection as well as knowledge on prevention and treatment of snakebite for local medical staff

The research outcomes will be published at the end of 2018 for making recommendations about snake bites in the localregion, as the World Health Organization has added snakebite envenoming to the list of neglected tropical diseasesin 2017. Through the deployment of this epidemiological research and the training of snakebite knowledge, the ICHR has contributed to promotingpublicawareness and attentionon this issue.

April, 2018 - ICHR

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Institute for Community Health Research - Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy

1st Floor, Faculty of Public Health Building, Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy